Milestones

While other kids wanted to be rock stars or professional athletes, Joe always wanted to make computer games.

When he was 10 or 11, he was identified as dyslexic; he was talented in physics and math, but he struggled to read and write.

Around that time, home computers came out and PC games were becoming popular; he was transfixed.

His family was very supportive of his passion; they knew school wasn’t a great environment for him, so they’d let him stay home to work on his games and learn how to code.

At 15 years old, he dropped out of school and joined a company to help them develop a game; he was completely self-taught.

He published his first game when he was 16; it sold 10,000 units.

Since then, he’s worked on iconic games such as FIFA 07, FIFA 08, Rollercoaster Tycoon, and Need for Speed: Nitro.

Later, in his twenties, he began to regret the fact that he’d never really learned to read books, so he took the time to re-teach himself at the local library.

Keep following my journey

Education

Some High School

Career

Founder / Creative Director

I spent 25 years making video games; I now do technology consulting and app development for start ups and non profits.

Career Roadmap

My work combines:

My work combines:

Education

Entrepreneurship

Problem Solving

Day to Day

I apply data science and data driven intelligent products and services to market in video games, enterprise and eLearning. In addition to creating leading game-based eLearning platforms and games, I do a lot of consulting for data-driven growth stage technology companies and highly innovative eLearning initiatives.

Skills & Qualities Beyond School

Strong storytelling and narrative skills are essential when pitching a product. Being dyslexic, I've developed a type of dynamic reasoning that has helped me in my life. You need to embrace different ways of thinking and challenge yourself to think outside of the box.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for high school students

Teach yourself to code and learn as much as you can about computers. Work on projects that are important to you.

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Society in General:

"You must be stupid because you can't read. "

Due to my dyslexia, I had never learned to read properly and that had always frustrated me. I began to regret the fact that I’d never really learned to read books and wanted to be able to enjoy that for fun, so I took the time to re-teach myself at the local library. You just have to keep going!

Challenges I Overcame

Learning Issues

Learning Issues

I am dyslexic and school was a big challenge. I dropped out of school at 15; statistically, this is doesn't work out for most people. At the same time, traditional education only works out for a small percent too.